Timeline: All the twists and turns from Couche-Tard's push to buy 7-Eleven's owner
The Laval, Que.-based business behind Circle K and Ingo has not had an easy time pursuing the acquisition of Japan-headquartered Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd.
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Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
On tariffs, Trump is the opposite of unpredictable
So much for TACO. The notion that 'Trump always chickens out' had informed much of the thinking, and negotiating tactics, of U.S. trade partners leading up to the Aug. 1 deadline imposed by President Donald Trump for reaching deals to avoid massive tariffs on their exports. But the idea that Mr. Trump ultimately backs down no longer holds much water. Contrary to suggestions that the President is fickle and unpredictable, there has been a remarkable consistency to his approach that is becoming clearer as deals are struck with major U.S. trading partners that lock in hefty tariffs on their exports that would have been considered unthinkable not long ago. Instead, the 15-per-cent baseline tariffs agreed to by Japan and the European Union have been greeted by financial markets with sighs of relief, if not indifference. That Mr. Trump has been able to so completely transform – or undermine – the rules of the global trading system in barely six months does suggest that there is more to his method than empty taunts and bravado. Rather, his determination to extract concessions from U.S. trade partners is based on the view that his country has disproportionately borne the costs of upholding the global trading system. Whether or not you agree with that view – and most credentialed economists have not – acceptance of it now appears to be everywhere taking hold. Carney's top aide joins Canada-U.S. trade talks in Washington European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clearly demonstrated that on Sunday when she trekked to Mr. Trump's Scottish golf course for a handshake trade deal that implements 15-per-cent baseline tariffs on EU exports to the United States, and includes EU commitments to invest US$600-billion in the U.S. economy and buy US$750-billion in American energy over three years. Asked what the United States is giving up in return for those EU concessions, Ms. von der Leyen replied: 'So, the starting point was a [trade] surplus on our side and a deficit on the U.S. side. And we wanted to rebalance the trade relation, and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic.' In other words, the U.S. conceded nothing, and the EU was willing to accept 15-per-cent tariffs on most of its exports that, while half the level that Mr. Trump had threatened to impose without a deal by Aug. 1, will nevertheless significantly raise the prices of European wine, cheese, pharmaceuticals and other key exports in the U.S. market. Ms. von der Leyen appears to have implicitly accepted Mr. Trump's notion of reciprocity – that is, U.S. trading partners must pay a price to access the U.S. market, while opening fully their markets to U.S. goods, to offset the costs the U.S. bears for upholding the global trade system and providing the postwar security umbrella that has kept Europe safe. Keeping Mr. Trump on board with NATO and maintaining U.S. support for Ukraine were as important to the EU as avoiding a trade war and securing access to the U.S. market. Analysis: Harsh, informal, wide-ranging: How Trump's trade talks have changed In the Trump era, no longer are trade and security negotiations kept separate from one another. Defence spending is part of the calculus that determines the level at which U.S. allies get tariffed. No wonder most have undertaken to massively boost their military budgets. Mr. Trump still sees steel as a special case whose domestic production is critical to U.S. national security. But his 50-per-cent tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum are not sustainable and will eventually begin to undermine his goal of boosting U.S. manufacturing. U.S. self-sufficiency in steel and aluminum is a pipe dream and U.S. industries that rely on imported steel and aluminum, including the auto sector, cannot bear these tariffs for long. For now, however, Mr. Trump's tariffs have not stoked inflation and the U.S. stock and bond markets – after tanking on the President's 'Liberation Day' tariffs announced in April – have bounced back. Investors no longer fear tariffs the way they did. Nor does the prospect of even bigger U.S. budget deficits appear to faze them. That could all change, of course, if tariffs-induced inflation is ignited and the one-sided deals that Mr. Trump negotiates with U.S. trading partners create a political backlash in the countries that agree to higher U.S. tariffs. Wine and cheese producers remain powerful political constituencies in France, and they are very upset with Ms. von der Leyen. French Prime Minister François Bayrou's description of the EU-US deal as 'submission' heralds a potentially rough ride for her as she attempts to win EU-wide approval for the deal. A global trade war may have been postponed, but it is far from clear that one has been averted.
Globe and Mail
10 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Japan's Panasonic announces a new chief at one of its companies as its profits barely hold up
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese electronics and technology conglomerate Panasonic has chosen a new chief executive at one of the group's companies after eking out a 1.2% rise in its first-quarter profit. Kenneth William Sain, a former Boeing executive, will replace Yasuyuki Higuchi as Panasonic Connect's president and chief executive in April 2026, the company said Wednesday. Panasonic Connect offers solutions and products for various supply chains, public services, infrastructure and entertainment sectors. Sain joined Panasonic in 2019 as CEO of Panasonic Avionics. 'Ken is an exceptional leader with extensive global experience and a deep understanding of business and technology,' Higuchi said in a statement. Panasonic Holdings Corp.'s April-June profit totaled 71.46 billion yen ($483 million), up from 70.6 billion yen. Its quarterly sales declined 10.6% from last year to 1.9 trillion yen ($12.8 billion). The Osaka-based maker of home appliances, solar panels and batteries for Tesla vehicles kept its full year profit forecast unchanged at 310 billion yen ($2.1 billion), down 15% from the previous year. Panasonic said the impact from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs was not yet fully factored in. The company said it will try to minimize the effect on its operating profit with cost cuts and other measures. Consumer electronics sales were strong in Japan, Panasonic said, while they were also healthy in China, supported by subsidies. On the positive side, it said demand for AI servers and air-conditioners was expected to grow. But concerns remain about slowing demand for electric vehicles because of U.S. tariffs and the ending of tax credits. Panasonic also said that it's unclear when its new lithium-ion battery factory in Kansas will be fully operational. Panasonic said in May that it was slashing its global workforce by 10,000 people, half in Japan and half overseas, to become 'lean.' The job cuts amount to about 4% of its workforce.
CTV News
15 hours ago
- CTV News
Intimate no more? Japan clamps down on ‘host clubs'
Tokyo, Japan -- Japan is waging war on 'host clubs' -- where men entertain women willing to pay for romance, but authorities and industry insiders say customers have long been scammed and saddled with debt. Neatly coiffured, well-dressed 'hosts' bedazzle women with sweet talk and the mirage of intimacy at glitzy establishments in big Japanese cities. In return, the women pay inflated prices for champagne and other expensive drinks while they flirt, sometimes splurging tens of thousands of dollars a night. Authorities are clamping down because of allegations that some women are being tricked into towering debts by hosts, and even into sex work to pay them off. Under a new law that took effect in June, taking advantage of women's romantic feelings to manipulate them into ordering overpriced drinks has been banned. This has sent shockwaves through an industry where pseudo-romance, from casual flirtation to after-hours sex, has long driven relationships with clients. Emotional dependence John Reno, a star host in Tokyo's red-light district Kabukicho, said the crackdown was 'unsurprising' after 'scammer-like hosts increased'. Hosts, he told AFP, used to employ intimacy primarily to entertain women. But 'their mindset today is basically 'if you love me, then don't complain,' silencing women and exploiting their emotional dependence', the 29-year-old owner of Club J said. A growing number of victims have reported financial and sexual exploitation linked to these establishments. Official data shows there were around 2,800 host club-related cases reported to police in 2024, up from 2,100 two years before. These have ranged from hosts ordering drinks the clients did not ask for, to prostitution. Some hosts are racking up profits by introducing their cash-strapped clients to brokers known as 'scouts', who then send them into the sex trade, police say. Women, for their part, strive to work hard for their crush. 'These hosts in return promise them their effort will be rewarded with actual relationships or marriage,' Reno said. 'That's outright fraud,' he added, while denying that his Club J employees engage in any such practices. 'No place to be' Difficulties such as poverty and abuse often make hosts the only escape for young women with low self-esteem, campaigners say. While high-flying businesswomen used to be the main clientele, girls 'with no place to be' are increasingly seeking refuge, Arata Sakamoto, head of Kabukicho-based non-profit Rescue Hub, told AFP. To them, 'host clubs have become a place where they feel accepted' and 'reassured they can be who they are, albeit in exchange for money', he said. One recent night saw a 26-year-old woman surrounded by smiling men at a table of flamboyant Kabukicho club Platina. 'Some hosts are bad enough to brainwash you, but I would say women should also know better than to drink far more than they can afford,' the woman, a freelancer in the media industry who declined to be named, told AFP. Another customer comes to Platina to 'spice up my mundane life'. 'I hope this will remain a place that keeps my female hormones overflowing,' the 34-year-old IT worker said. The new law does not ban intimacy, but behaviour such as threatening to end relationships with clients if they refuse to order drinks. Industry insiders like Platina owner Ran Sena call the law 'too vague'. 'For example, if a client tells me, 'I'm about to fall in love with you,' does that mean I'll have to forbid her from coming to see me again?' he said. 'Conqueror' Another disruptive change is also rocking the industry. Police have notified clubs that any billboard advertising that hypes up the sales and popularity of individual hosts is no longer acceptable. The rationale is that these bombastic, neon-lit signs boasting 'No.1' status or 'multimillion' sales can fuel competition among hosts and push them further toward profit-mongering. Self-identifying as Kabukicho's 'conqueror,' 'god' or 'king', and egging on prospective customers to 'drown themselves' in love, for example, is similarly banned. To comply, clubs have hurriedly covered such slogans on Kabukicho billboards, defacing the pouting portraits of hosts with black tape. This signals a 'huge' morale crisis for hosts, Sena says. 'It's been the aspiration of many hosts to be called No.1, earn a title and become famous in this town,' he said. 'Now, they don't even know what they should strive for,' the 43-year-old added. For women, too, the rankings were a way to reassure themselves that the money they spent on their 'oshi (favourite)' hosts was not in vain -- proof they were helping them ascend in the cutthroat hosts industry. 'I think the industry is heading toward decline,' Sena said. By Tomohiro Osaki, AFP
